On July 3rd, 1997, twenty-two years ago today, I started my first full-time job. I had just finished my master’s degree and move far away from home from Memphis to the Pennsylvania mountains to State College to work at a research lab connected with Penn State. My parents had helped me with the move since it was such a long distance, and they had left that morning shortly after I left the hotel we had stayed at the night before to head off to my new job.

I remember that as I was getting ready for work that morning I heard on the radio that James Stewart had just died. I guess I should have taken that as a possible omen for my career (smile). I remember after work that evening heading out to eat at a Chili’s restaurant that happened to be nearby in the downtown area. It was cold, cold enough that I had to wear a coat the day before the 4th of July. I guess I should have considered that an omen too.

Focus on the good and gravitate towards it

I wish I could say the twenty-two years since have all been laughs and smiles, but the truth is it has been a very mixed bag of tricks and treats. Some of the people I have had the pleasure of getting to work with were some of the finest people you could hope to meet, and some were not. I don’t think I am special in that regard. I think that is the case for most of us. The best we can do is focus on the good and gravitate towards it.

I call today my halfway point because today marks twenty years of full-time work for me. (I took off 2002 to 2004 to try for my Ph.D. and I don’t count those two years). And since I plan to work at least another twenty years, we are halfway there.

I plan to use tonight and this weekend to reflect on the past with the hopes that I can gather some helpful lessons learned (some learned the hard way) to ensure the next twenty years are as positive as they can be.

Are you halfway there yet?

Where are you in your career? Are you halfway there yet? Are things going as well as you would like? If not, what could you do to move things in a better direction? Who in your work life is having a negative effect and what could you do to distance yourself from them, and if it requires changing jobs how could you make that happen. Who do you trust to talk with about your concerns about your career and future and what could they do to be of help to you.

If we hope to make the second half the best half, we first must understand what made the first half less than what we wish it had been. Something for me to think about now that I’m at my halfway point, and hopefully you will think about it too.